Growing a Tower of Basil With Roofless, Rainwater-Harvesting Aquaponics

We've seen the amazing power of urban aquaponics (the practice of combining fish farming with hydroponic growing) before, but here's how one commercial grower is getting past a very specific problem—the high pH of her well water. By integrating rain harvesting saucers made from food-grade plastic, similar to the rain tree/clothes line hybrid we featured previously—the system is able to maintain a healthy pH level and keep fish and plants thriving.

Created by TCLynx aquaponics of Florida, the system is intended as both a commercial growing unit and a demonstration/education tool about the benefits of aquaponics. By the looks of that basil, it should certainly turn a few heads and create a few converts.

Besides the cool aquaponics, I'd love to hear about other solutions for rainwater harvesting without a roof. Use the comments box below or tweet me at @samigrover if you've got some ideas we should check out.